Who was the first female video game character you played as?

Let's think about it for a sec, females weren't always playable options. Sometimes I look back on titles from the early 90's, and remember just how many gender barriers were starting to break in video games with hits like "Tomb Raider" and "Super Metroid". The ladies are becoming commonplace now, but it wasn't always not-so-male-dominated. For most of us in the 20's and beyond age group now, our first female favorites are probably fondly remembered.

So who was the first female you played as? =P For me, it'd have to be Dixie Kong in "Donkey Kong Country 2". The idea of a guy picking a female at the time seemed kinda crazy, but seeing as Dixie wasn't exactly a choice in the game, I actually got away with playing as a girl, mwahahahaha. > : D Beyond that, it'd have to be Amy in any of the Sonic Advance series, then Samus from Metroid games, and Chun Li in "Super Street Fighter II" later on. I did play sneak in some Peach action as a kid on Mario Kart Double Dash and Melee when nobody was around to see it, but that doesn't count. =P

My parents didn't quite figure out Samus was female until way later, though, so it wasn't until they got me Metroid Prime 3 for Christmas one year and watched me play it did they notice the eyelashes behind the visor. =P You can imagine the non-stop laughter from there, oh God I think they kept it up for a good five minutes. XD

"Metroid is a girl?!"
Eheh, good ol' NES memories, hazy as some of them may be to me nowadays.
That said, I'm fairly certain I first channeled girl power with Princess "Peach" Toadstool in Super Mario 2. Even back then I simply thought of her as just another one of the guys so to speak. I didn't mind being in control of someone in a dress, I was too busy having vast amounts of fun floating all over the place.

Even today I never mind stepping into the other gender's shoes. It's never been a factor that's put me off towards playable characters. If he / she can kick buns, then they can kick buns, pure and simple.

"I hear that!"

Yeah, the gender, species, or race doesn't matter to me either. If the character is believeable, chances are I will enjoy playing as them, like Chun Li from Super Street Fighter II. She easily had the best backstory out of the whole cast, and it made perfect sense. XD

Nai255 wrote:"Metroid is a girl?!"

Haha, did anyone you know ask that question? XD My folks at least picked up on Samus' name, among other details, whenever they passed by the TV, but her gender might as well have been a plot twist up until Corruption.

I am pretty sure it was "Dixie Kong".
I still remember all the DKC2 multiplayer-sessions that I had with my cousin back then...

You too, eh? =P Wow, what are the odds? XD But yeah, when I was six years old, I had a lot of fun playing the game with other people too, especially my mom. ^^ Probably wouldn't remember it so fondly if she hadn't played it with me, and sometimes my sis would join too. >w<

Conveniently I've been playing Donkey Kong Country 2 again recently, and it's quite a walk down memory lane. :') Trying to go for the true ending, and it's not easy finding all those kremlin coins. XD

Mine was Samus, though I didn't know it at the time. I didn't beat Metroid until after playing as the first female character I KNEW was a girl: Terra from FF6 (or 3 as I knew it.). Now I was thinking this may not count as later on she's no longer your only controlled character, but if Dixie counts...

Seems like Dixie Kong is pretty popular in this topic. XD

Anyway, does it make me lucky if I knew Samus was a lady from the start? When I first seen her in Smash Bros Melee and read her description, I learned her name wasn't "Metroid", among other things, and really wanted to play the games after that. Got Prime Hunters for my DS first, was sold on the series after beating it, got Metroid Prime later, and then Zero Mission along with Super Metroid after that. >w< By now I think I've at least tried every game in the series, even The Other M, but only beat the ones I actually owned myself.

Barbie.



...I know, my early gaming childhood was sad, don't judge me ;w; (XD) Now that I think of it, my knowledge of video games is really limited, compared to the others on the forum (it just may be due to the fact that I wasn't .... around when the games you all played came out.) And I really only knew whatever my brothers introduced me to, and they would often play sports games with their friends (groan), and I was mostly either too young, or not interested in the games they played (street fighting games. Never was good at them, and I preferred cartoons over the realistic graphics. They also played stuff like Grand theft auto. Not my cup of tea.) None of my friends played video games, so it wasn't until around the end of elementary/ beginning of middle school did I actually begin to venture out and play my own games.

The barbie game I played as a little girl was Barbie explorer, although I can vaguely recall a Barbie horse riding game. You can tell they didn't think little girls, much less girls in general would play games. I never finished Barbie explorer due to the horrible controls. From what I recently watched through a let's play, I didn't miss much. :/

Enough about my sob story, do games with dual protagonists count? Although you never played as her in the main story, she was (almost) always by your side (or in this case, on your back). Her name is Pastel, from the obscure video game "Graffiti Kingdom". She is human, but she prefers to stay in her "box dog" form. This particular game has a special spot in my heart (ew cheesy, lol) since it's the first game that I got, and finished to the end.

...But if that doesn't count, it's probably Princess Peach from Super Mario 2 (never finished it), or Crystal, the first female Pokemon protagonist.

Matt Bozon himself worked on a lot of Barbie games, (He recently admitted that on Twitter.) so it sounds like you missed playing one of the better ones. I know how you feel about sports games, my interest in them is pretty limited outside of racing simulations, like Gran Turismo.

Dual protagonists count too. That's the first I've heard of Graffiti Kingdom, I missed out on lots of games in the past. (Including Shantae!) Judging from screenshots, it looks cute.

ZombieWolf-Girl wrote:...But if that doesn't count, it's probably Princess Peach from Super Mario 2 (never finished it), or Crystal, the first female Pokemon protagonist.

I squee'd over Crystal a lot when she was first revealed. Lord knows if I had gotten Pokemon Crystal, instead of Gold, as a kid, I would have played as her. I later made up every excuse possible to get away with playing as May in Pokemon Ruby.

Metroid, most likely. Knowingly, though? The original Phantasy Star, predating even Final Fantasy I. Alis Landale blazed a trail for countless who've followed.

.Luke wrote:Matt Bozon himself worked on a lot of Barbie games, (He recently admitted that on Twitter.) so it sounds like you missed playing one of the better ones.

Really? I wonder which ones he worked on. The few Barbie games I saw weren't good. Well, there was the Princess And The Pauper, that was pretty fun, if I think back on it.

.Luke wrote:Dual protagonists count too. That's the first I've heard of Graffiti Kingdom, I missed out on lots of games in the past. (Including Shantae!) Judging from screenshots, it looks cute.

Yes, that's good. It's alright, I don't think it was pretty big in it's time. (I also don't know how game reviewers have such a big collection of video games either, you're not alone XD) Apparently, it was a sequel to a game called Magic Pengal. You could create your own monsters, although it's hard to do that with a controller. I'm sure if they remade it and had a udraw-like tablet, it would have the potential to be popular.  

.Luke wrote:I squee'd over Crystal a lot when she was first revealed. Lord knows if I had gotten Pokemon Crystal, instead of Gold, as a kid, I would have played as her. I later made up every excuse possible to get away with playing as May in Pokemon Ruby.

I feel you. There was something about Crystal and Leaf that I really liked. I never really played Ruby/Sapphire, but I think I should draw some Pokemon fanart, especially with the release of Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby. At least I play as her now!

He said he worked on the Princess And the Pauper. Looks like you've been playing WayForward's games far earlier on than I did. Shantae is my first experience with one of their releases. I'll have to give Xtreme Sports, Mighty Switch Force, and their other original games a chance eventually.

ZombieWolf-Girl wrote:Yes, that's good. It's alright, I don't think it was pretty big in it's time. (I also don't know how game reviewers have such a big collection of video games either, you're not alone XD) Apparently, it was a sequel to a game called Magic Pengal. You could create your own monsters, although it's hard to do that with a controller. I'm sure if they remade it and had a udraw-like tablet, it would have the potential to be popular.

A game like that would have a very welcoming audience on the Nintendo 3DS, Vita, tablets, and phones. It was ahead of its time, like a fair amount of other PS2 releases. Touch screens have had a very interesting impact on video games since the Playstation 2 was first making its rounds.

ZombieWolf-Girl wrote:I feel you. There was something about Crystal and Leaf that I really liked. I never really played Ruby/Sapphire, but I think I should draw some Pokemon fanart, especially with the release of Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby. At least I play as her now!

May's new look is adorable, I can see why. It's no surprise there has been quite an explosion of fan art since the game was revealed. Even the female protagonist from Black/White 2 got lots of attention months before launch.

Tekaramity wrote:Metroid, most likely. Knowingly, though? The original Phantasy Star, predating even Final Fantasy I. Alis Landale blazed a trail for countless who've followed.

I didn't realize Samus was female either, when I played Smash Bros. Melee, until I read more about the series from the game's trophies that you collect. It spring-boarded me looking into Metroid, and I quickly became a fan upon getting Metroid Prime, and Metroid Prime Hunters. Later enjoyed the 2D ones on the GBA just as much.

Phantasy Star goes so far back, wow. Have you played any of the Phantasy Stars from the Master System? The one I saw and wanted to play on the Dreamcast looked cool too, but I got interested way too late after its release. I had trouble setting up my Windows registry, and making the additional hardware, to allow the Dreamcast to connect online through my PC's modem; that tutorial broke my then 16-year-old brain.

Yep, Phantasy Star appeared on Sega Master System first of all! Never owned one, tragically, but my cousin did & I played the heck out of it at his place. That, Fantasy Zone, and Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap hooked me on the Master System for years to come, even after I secured my own Genesis - with not one but two Sonic titles! Which was aces, all things considered. And I have played all four of the original titles plus Phantasy Star Online Ep. I & II; regarding PSO, my fiancee & I actually play that together. <3 We're interested in PSO2, but those bloody punks over at SEGA refuse to localize it. D=< Criminal, I tell you!